About Kern County
 
Bakersfield, the largest city in the southern San Joaquin Valley, is a community rich in history and filled with family-oriented activities. Bakersfield's Location is in the midst of California's heartland and offers metropolitan living in a traditional hometown setting.
 
Bakersfield is perfectly situated on the California crossroads. To the east are the Sierra Nevada's and the high desert. To the north is the prime agricultural land of California's great central valley. To the west is the great Pacific Ocean. And to the south over the Tehachapi mountains lies Los Angeles, all within a two hour drive. In an area of a few miles you can travel between arid desert, lush forest and rich agricultural fields.
 
In winter, the clear vistas of snow-capped mountains are made all the more enjoyable by the temperate climates in the valleys below. When you take time to explore the region surrounding Bakersfield, you'll find the communities as diverse as the landscape. Varied are the identities, industries and histories, but running through all is a common thread - the feeling of Hometown America. And with two national forests, seven state parks and an unlimited number of attractions, you'll never run out of things to do.
 
With a population of 330,000, Bakersfield serves as the hub of activity in Kern County, with plenty to offer. The County of Kern is home to more than 600,000 people. Agriculture and oil remains the county's largest industries. Two of the nation's top five oil fields are here, the the valley's fertile soil produces a wide variety of crops. From apples to zucchini, we grow it here. High tech industries are quickly establishing themselves in the county's high-desert region, ensuring the health of the local economy well into this For the family life, you'll find affordable housing in planned communities, lots of parks and outstanding public and private schools, including Bakersfield Community College and California State University, Bakersfield.
 
Gathering anointing: City hosts one of the largest international business conferences in the world every year (draws 12,000-15,000). Other conferences/meetings held here tend to be launching pads with strong forward mobilization. (Lu Engle was launched from the California Call to Prayer held here in 1998). Other meetings have had similar dynamics.
 
Governmental anointing: Though hidden, much of the early laws re: water rights etc. were derived from leadership here. The legislation continues to regulate use of water in the state. There is a strong hidden Christian influence from this area in Schools (90% teachers are Christian) and government both at the local, state, and national level. The city was the first to put up In God We Trust over the City Hall last year.
 
History of Kern County
 
The 1860's: When Kern County is Created
 
When California became part of the United States, there were few clear boundaries other than the Pacific Ocean. There was so much land and so few people in Mexican California, that it really did not matter where one rancho or district began or ended. No one was even sure where California's eastern border was located, and no accurate surveys had ever been made in the state. Almost in despiration the state legislature in 1850 created 23 counties and then proceeded to add counties and adjust county boundaries during almost every legislative session in the 1850's and 1860's. The territory that became Kern County was originally tucked in the giant Mariposa County. Then the western part was included in the new Tulare County, while the eastern section entered Los Angeles County. Finally, in 1866 the legislature created Kern County with the mining town of Havilah as the county seat. These boundary changes can be traced on plates 61-63 of the Historical Atlas of California.
 
Havilah was the largest town in Kern County at the time. Gold had been discovered in the near the future Kernville (Whisky Flat) in 1860, drawing miners to the area and leading to the founding of Kernville and Woody. Five years later gold was discovered in Clear Creek, bringing Havilah into being and making it the fastest growing community when the legislature approved the creation of Kern County. In 1866 Havilah also became home of Kern County's first newspaper,(4) the Havilah Weekly Courier, which was moved to the new Bakersfield in 1869 where it evolved into the Bakersfield Californian. A stage line ran from Los Angeles through Oak Creek Pass and the Tehachapi Valley to Havilah and on to the mines in Kernville. Willow Springs near contemporary Rosamond was one of the Los Angeles-Havilah Stage stations from 1864-1872. The enterprising Colonel Baker built a toll road in Caliente wash to the L.A.-Havilah Road in 1867 to help travelers get to his new Bakersfield.(5) After mining declined and the county seat was moved to Bakersfield in 1874, Havilah itself became a sleepy village. A replica of Havilah's original courthouse and jail can be seen at the Kern County Museum.
 
In 1861 Christian Bohna became the first U.S. citizen to settle in the future Bakersfield, on dry ground between the Kern River watercourses which settlers called "Kern Island." He built a cottonwood dwelling with a tule roof.(6) 1862 was a wet year, however, bringing a devastating flood to the Kern River, destroying all settler improvements in the area except for the Bohna's which were on higher ground. Nevertheless, the Bohna family moved to Glenville, selling their property to Thomas Baker, called colonel for an appointment he had received years earlier in the Iowa Territory Militia. Colonel Baker knew that he could get swamp and overflow lands for the price of reclaiming them, because as a state legislator he personally had helped draft the legislation to make this possible. In the next two years, during a period of drought, he built a dam at Buena Vista Lake and several irrigation ditches for which the state granted him 87,120 acres in three counties. He and his family lived on Kern Island where he grew such things as corn, beans, and potatoes with the help of Indian labor. His family home was one of the few spots on the road between San Francisco and Los Angeles where travelers could find hospitality for themselves and food for their animals. It is not surprising, therefore, that the community that he laid out beside his homestead in 1868 became known as Colonel Baker's Field.
 
By many accounts the hospitality of the Baker home was well known before and even after he opened his real estate office in Bakersfield in 1869. No doubt, Baker's wife, Ellen, was the principal source of the Baker hospitality, for she organized sewing bees for the women of the new town and later was a founding member of the Bakersfield Women's Club. This hospitality combined with the low prices the colonel charged for his land to attract settlers to the growing development. One estimate puts the young community's population at about 300 in 1869 and 800 by 1871. Colonel Baker died of typhoid in 1872, but Ellen Baker Tracy's hospitality continued another half century until her death in 1924.

CSAC Snapshot Info

Official County Website